Stefano Domenicali says the car was the only weak point in Ferrari's championship challenge this year after Fernando Alonso lost out at the final race of the season.

Alonso's second place in Brazil wasn't enough for him to snatch the title away from Sebastian Vettel as he finished just three points adrift in the championship standings. When asked about the car's performance this season, Domenicali highlighted other strengths that had ensured Ferrari got so close to winning the title but admitted the car was not quick enough.

"It's a fact that over the last four races we are the team that scored the most points," Domenicali said. "In racing we were - in my view - the best on average in terms of managing the pit stops, managing the strategy, the best on reliability; these are facts.

"You correctly say that we did not have the fastest car, above all at the beginning of the season then maybe in the second half of the season we were not able to improve the car. For sure this is something we need to work harder in order to improve it, and we have of course got ideas because we know where we lack [performance] and of course we also know that unfortunately we're paying a big price in qualifying that hurts our performance in the race."

Domenicali said the current car would remain the base for 2013 and that improving in qualifying was a crucial goal, but said Ferrari should be helped by new regulations limiting the use of DRS in qualifying to the designated race zone.

"I think that for sure considering the season we have in terms of regulations I think that is the base of what we should see from all the teams next year. We are trying to correct the points that for sure were not the best in terms of our pure performance of the car, we need to improve the pace in qualifying. The situation with DRS is something that in a way - theoretically - should help, but we are trying to develop the areas of the car that were for sure not the best in performance. That's why I'm confident that we should be in a different position at the start of the season next year."

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